Ski resorts can be dangerous
by The Alloy of Silver and Gold
Summary: Sequel to it began with Christmas as per request by TheAwesomeJellyBean, you'll have to read that first. Ignores Scorpia Rising. second in Cheetah Twins trilogy.
1. Chapter 1

"Who's this, Rider, your girlfriend?"  
>"No," answered Alex evenly. "She's my cousin." One of the numerous school bullies had seized on Alexandra the moment she'd come through the gates at Brookland. Alex didn't know his name but always thought of him as Hog, because he looked so much like one. Jack and Alex had made up the story of a recently orphaned cousin because to normal people, clones were a bit ludicrous.<br>"She looks a lot like you," jeered Hog. "Is it because she's on drugs, too?"  
>Alex pushed past him, pulling Alexandra by the wrist.<br>"Ok." He turned to face her. "That's one to steer clear of."  
>"What's this about drugs?" she asked.<br>"This rumor about me, because I'm away so much," sighed Alex. "You know why."  
>"I'm starting to hate Alan Blunt."<br>"_Starting_?"

And then came the ski trip. Mr. Grey was handing out permission slips. He was saying, "This one is new to the school. We're going to a ski resort in Seattle. Consider if you're going to go carefully," his eyes landed on Alex. "Getting homesick won't help things."  
>Alexandra was staring at her slip wide-eyed. Later, on the way to their next class, she asked, "They organize trips out of the country?"<br>"Yep. You want to come?"  
>"Hell yeah!" Alex laughed.<br>"Yeah, I do to. Although, I'm not sure what Jack will think. Last time I went on a trip out of the country, I ended up working for Scorpia. I'll tell you the details later," he added, to deter questions.  
>"But if we do go," he grinned. "With our cheetah-balance, we'd be great on the snowboards!"<p>

Dinner came and went, and Jack was still thinking it over. When Alex asked her about it, she fretted, "Remember Venice? I can't and won't go through another scenario like that, Alex. And worse, this is the other side of the world! I don't want to sit at home alone while you go off and risk your life!"  
>"This isn't risking our lives, Jack," said Alexandra soothingly. "All we'll do is go down on snowboards a couple times. And anyway," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "This'll give you some <em>alone time<em> with Snake."  
>Jack's resolve crumbled. "Well…"<br>"Ok, Jack! Thanks a million!"  
>They ran up to pack before she could change her mind.<p>

**First chapter DONE. Yeah I know it's short, but so's everything else I write. REVIEW! PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 2

When the day of the trip – the thirteenth of November – arrived, Alex was awoken very abruptly at an ungodly hour. "Come on, 'Lex!" chattered Alexandra. "The airport's far, we have to get to school early!"  
>"Five more minutes," mumbled Alex into the pillow.<br>"K unit's here. I'll send Eagle up if you're not down in five seconds."  
>Alex was down in less than two. Finding no K unit anywhere in the house, he glared at his sister.<br>"We don't need to get up for _another hour._"  
>"Well, you're up now," breezed Alexandra. "Get some breakfast down, I'll wake Jack."<br>When Jack arrived, heavy lidded and half asleep, she poured herself a cup of coffee.  
>"Alexandra's right, you know, Alex. It's about an hour to the airport. Didn't you see on the slip? You have to be there in –" she checked her watch – "ten minutes."<br>"Oh, SNAP!"  
>He flew upstairs to get his bag, only to be nearly bowled over by it as Alexandra tossed it at him.<br>"I knew you'd never be up in time," she explained. "So I packed it for you."  
>"Alexandra, have I ever told you you're my favorite sister?"<br>"I'm your _only_ sister."

Alex and Alexandra grabbed their bikes and cycled to Brookland at top speed, picking up Tom on the way. As the three entered the school gates, Hog pounced. Not literally, he was too overweight for that, but you know what I mean.  
>"You're late," he sneered. "We're about to leave. <em>I<em> was here an hour ago."  
>"Technically," said Alex as he went past. "We're not late. We're just not early." As Hog tried to figure out what he meant, they joined the back of the bus line. Mr. Grey was checking off names.<br>"Wellington, Claude,"  
>"Here," Hog chorused. <em>Claude Wellington?<em> Thought Alex. _Can you say lame names?  
><em>"Harris, Tom."  
>"Here."<br>"Rider, Alex."  
>"Here."<br>"Rider, Alexandra."  
>"Here."<br>Everyone shot them odd looks. Alex knew why. With their names so similar, and them looking just so exactly the same, it was unnatural. _If only they knew the truth._

A bus ride later, they were going through customs. Alex was fingering the plastic pistol Smithers had given him. He'd said the bullets were plastic too, that nothing would show up on a metal detector. Still, Alex was nervous. He laid the necklace with the five gadget charms on it in the tray going through the x-ray and hoped Smithers had thought of that.

Sure enough, when Alex had picked up his things on the other side, nothing had been detected. He held the necklace next to his ear and tapped one of the charms. Lead lined. Alex smiled.

When they'd sat down, Alexandra started flicking through the channels on the TV screen. "They have TVs here," she noted. "Why?"  
>"For entertainment," explained Alex. "On long flights, you get bored. So you can watch movies."<br>"Can you show me?"  
>Alex pressed the buttons on the screen and pulled up the list of movies. "You can pick one. Just tap on it, and then tap on the button that says play."<br>Alexandra spent the rest of the flight immersed in Alvin and the Chipmunks.


	3. Chapter 3

They touched down in Seattle. Mr. Grey called attendance and loaded them all into a tour bus. When they arrived at the ski lodge, they chose rooms and dropped off their luggage.  
>Unfortunately, Mr. Grey had seen fit to place Hog, (<em>Claude Wellington<em>, Alex reminded himself) next to Alex and Tom. The overweight bully scowled. "Why do I have to be next to them?" he whined.  
>"Claude," said Mr. Grey patiently. "There aren't any other rooms. Don't disturb Alex and Tom, and they won't disturb you, OK?"<br>"Not Ok," Hog mumbled under his breath, but Mr. Grey hadn't waited to listen.

"First thing, kids," he called over their heads. "Is the Day in the Life of a Ski Instructor activity. If you look at your booklets, you can fill out the sheet, and then we'll go to meet one of the instructors."

As the class surged forward, Alexandra asked, "They have ski instructors in the lodge?"  
>"Not <em>in<em> the lodge, but the people who run this employ other people to teach their customers. There's also a snowboarding instructor, I think," answered Alex, flicking through the timetable. "We're here for a week. Today is the Day in the Life of a Ski Instructor, and tomorrow we find out what it takes to run a place like this. The rest of the week we get to try out the ski slopes," said Alex.  
>"Cool!" exclaimed Alexandra. "I'm itching to get on the snowboards. What other things are there?"<br>"Well, there's skiing, ice skating, and cross-country skiing. That's just skiing on flat ground," he added at Alexandra's confused expression.  
>"Oh. Anyway, how many times have you snowboarded before?"<br>"Three times. The last didn't really count… I was on an ironing board. I was escaping from the school at Point Blanc I told you about, remember?"  
>"Yeah. Should we try that, too?"<br>Alex laughed. "I don't think they have ironing boards for rent, sis." 

**Sorry it was so short! I SWEAR the next one will be longer. I'll bring K unit in later into the story, if you like. The story will really start kicking off in the next few chapters. I'll update SOON AS I CAN.  
>oh, and Albany? Two words: GOOGLE TRANSLATE.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the wait. Its just that when I did It began with Christmas I had it pretty much planned out. With school and all, I'm pretty much just winging this one. I'm bringing in K unit and Ben and Yassen because so many people asked me to.**

The ski instructor, Tyler, talked them through a regular day at work. The class jotted down everything. The next day, one of the senior managers talked them through a regular day at work. The class jotted down everything. On Wednesday, Mr. Grey and Tyler organized them into groups according to experience with skis/snowboards and paired each group with an instructor. The class jotted down everyth –  
>No, wait. The class did not jot down everything for the rest of the week. They were too busy screaming down the ski slope on narrow pieces of plastic. Alex, Tom and Alexandra had lots of fun watching Hog wobble down a kiddie slope on skis and look <em>so extremely<em> proud of himself at the end. Even more fun was watching their classmates' faces as they watched Alex and Alexandra flipping and twisting expertly on snowboards around the instructor's course. Even better? Tom got it all on tape.

On the last night, Alex was updating his journal when the electricity cut. Everybody in the lodge was herded towards the main room. Tyler and one of the technicians were trying to fix the problem. Mr. Grey was telling everyone, "It's safer for everybody to stay here while the problem is fixed. We don't want you wandering around in the dark."  
>And then, of course, Scorpia executed their sickeningly dramatic entrance.<p>

Alex and Alexandra, with their cheetah-sharpened senses, knew immediately what was happening. "DOWN!" yelled Alexandra. Everyone looked at them like they were crazy but then the first gunshot rang out and everybody dropped to the floor. Several girls screamed. The power came back on, the lights flicking up to reveal the black-garbed Scorpia operatives, the signature silver scorpion gleaming at each of their throats. The cheetah twins jumped into action.

At Alex's kick, one dropped unconscious. The others opened fire, but Tom found his senses and ordered everyone into the back room, leaving Alex and Alexandra clawing, tearing and chopping at the agents. When the Scorpia operatives were either unconscious or dead, Alexandra looked out of the window and stifled a scream.  
>Alex looked over her shoulder and knew why.<p>

The entire ski mountain was swarming with agents, and several black tanks with the scorpion insignia were dotted around. Alex said quietly to Alexandra, "I'm going to send a signal to MI6. Tell the others to stay where they are."  
>"Should I tell them the truth?"<br>"No time for that. You'd better just tell them it's not safe."  
>This decision proved unwise, as, of course, Hog burst out of the back room. "Why should we listen to you?" he demanded.<br>"You just saw me and Alexandra take out a room of obviously dangerous people, Wellington," said Alex calmly. "We know what we're doing." He turned to Alexandra and hit the special app Smithers had installed on his IPhone.  
>"I've sent a distress signal but you know Blunt: get a distress signal, wait until your agent is about to die. I'm not waiting."<br>"But Alex, what can we do?"  
>"They've stopped the ski lift," Alex gestured out the window. "But the cables are intact. I can't snowboard or ski down the slope, but I can run down the cable."<br>"You're going to _tightrope run_ off the mountain? Are you crazy?"  
>"Cheetah DNA, sis. I'll call K unit, Ben and Yassen and we'll grab a chopper and head over here. Can you defend?"<br>The others watched this exchange with some bewilderment.  
>"You say she's your sister?" asked Mr. Grey.<br>"'Xandra, can you explain? Those Scorpia operatives aren't going to wait. Oh, and just in case they're too far away for your claws…"  
>He tossed her the pistol.<br>Without another word, Alex exited, flipped onto the cable, and started to run.


	5. Chapter 5

**i uploaded the chapter 5 from the other story! sorry!**

Alex didn't stop to think about the Scorpia-infested ski mountain. He didn't look up, down, left or right. He just ran.  
>He found this was easier than the time he'd tightrope walked off the burning building Force Three had captured him in. All his senses were on high alert, righting himself when he slipped was automatic and when Scorpia started firing he dodged with ease. Alex had decided he quite liked being fused with a cheetah. Then one of the operatives (<em>idiots<em>) tossed a grenade. It exploded just to Alex's left. He didn't stop. He ripped the triangular charm from his neck and threw it.

BOOM.

The Scorpia agents were packed so tightly together that the silver triangle wiped out at least thirty, never mind the fact that it was the mildest explosive. As the operatives around them started moving, Alex dashed across the last stretch of cable and jumped off at the bottom of the slope. As the bottommost forces of Scorpia raced after him, he zigzagged left and right, and tossed the second bomb. The shockwave threw him into a snowbank. Alex hit his head on something hard – a rock of some sort – and passed out.

**It's short… I know. I wish I could do more, but like I said, I'm winging this story. I'll try to get some more chapters up in the weekend but don't expect many miracles. And Albany doesn't need to translate his/her reviews into English. I'll do that. But thanks for taking the time to.**


	6. Chapter 6

Alexandra was having a problem. Her classmates, teacher and numerous strangers were staring like she was an alien from outer space. She was on a Scorpia-infested ski mountain with no way of getting off. Her brother had just walked out on her. And to top it all off, she was PMSing.

The best she could do was to keep fighting. Not long after Alex had begun his insane run down the cable, Scorpia agents had started pounding at the barricaded door and forced one of the skylights open. They'd dropped a thick sheet of clear plastic down on the others, trapping and suffocating them. She saw Tom screaming at her from under the trap, and hadn't hesitated to reduce the plastic to shreds with the swipe of a hand. "Back room!" she barked at the others. Alexandra didn't wait for them to follow the order before she slashed open one of the agent's throats. Keeping her fingers clasped together stiff, she plunged her hand through the chest of another* and shot several more. There were ten bullets in the magazine. She'd just used four.

Meanwhile, Alex was just coming to. He heard the hum of a chopper and people talking. He opened his eyes. "Mr. Byrne," he murmured. "How did you find me?"  
>"An entire ski mountain's just been captured by Scorpia, Alex," said Joe Byrne matter-of-factly, unfazed by the fact that Alex had just regained consciousness after a clear run down a ski-lift cable.<br>"We knew it had to be something to do with you."  
>"Where are you taking me?"<br>"Langley HQ."

Alexandra spun off the wall and kicked down three Scorpia agents before they had time to blink. She snapped the neck of another, knowing she wouldn't be able to last much longer. She was running solely on reserve energy, had more cuts and bruises than she wished to count and had a nasty feeling that her shoulder might be dislocated. Alexandra crushed one agent's windpipe and swept another into the wall. "Where are you, Alex?" she wondered out loud.

"You have to let me take a helicopter," argued Alex. "There are people held hostage up there!"  
>"Alex, we need a plan. We need to contact Alan Blunt and –"<br>"Fuck Blunt!" yelled Alex. "Mr. Byrne, you owe me for rescuing Tamara Knight and your other agents that were held hostage by Julius Grief. If you care at all, let me take a helicopter and call my friends in England. There are only six people on earth who can work in an effective team with me, Mr. Byrne. Please. My sister's up there. I promised I'd be back." Byrne looked up and caught sight of Alex's eyes, filled with hate, anger grief, streaked with cheetah DNA.  
>He made his decision.<p>

**Ok… it's obvious what the decision will be, isn't it? I mean, there wouldn't be the rest of the story if he said no, right? Did I do Alex too emotional? I'm sorry for last chapter. When I was adding the chapter, I just clicked on the first document that had the number 5 on it. SORRY.  
>* I got this idea from the Saga of Darren Shan. In the LartenMurlough fight scene in Tunnels of Blood, Larten kills Murlough by stabbing him with his ubersharp vampire nails. **


	7. Chapter 7

Alex was hopping around in agitation when Byrne walked into the room. "We're flying them over on Concorde. They'll be here in –" he checked his watch – "Three hours."  
>Alex fell back into a chair. "Can we send some of your people onto the mountain?"<br>"Already have. They're engaging the forces at the bottom of the mountain so Scorpia's attention is turned two ways. Hopefully that'll lighten your sister's load. And I've just got a call from Blunt. Some of his agents are coming with your friends. They'll join my men while you and the other six take care of the top."  
>"Thanks, Mr. Byrne. I mean that, even if I don't have the enthusiasm to make it sound sincere."<br>Byrne shrugged. "Like you said, Alex. We owe you."

Alexandra was single-handedly holding back what seemed like the entire task force of Scorpia and was tiring rapidly. She'd given Tom the pistol and was clawing, ripping and tearing at the enemy.  
>"This is like a war zone," panted Tom from beside her.<br>"It _is_ a war zone," she grunted. "Don't talk unless necessary. Takes energy." She caught a glimpse out the window. At the bottom of the mountain, there were more people. Her heart sank. Then Alexandra caught sight of the fighting. The black-uniformed Scorpia agents were mixed up with men wearing green. American soldiers. Alexandra's heart rose again, far past it's usual spot. Alex was arriving.  
>Apparently not.<br>The soldiers were making no move to climb the mountain and Alex had promised a chopper. No helicopters were in sight. Alexandra swallowed the rising fear and fought on.

Three tormented hours later, K unit, Ben, Yassen and most of MI6 walked in. "Finally," breathed Alex. "You know what you're up against?"  
>"It's all over the news, 'Lex," said Wolf. "Even in England. A mountain covered in Scorpia is kinda hard to miss."<br>"No time to talk," said Byrne. "I'm sending a tank and two helicopters. K unit, Ben, Yassen and Alex will be in a chopper. MI6 will divide into the other transport. I trust you all brought your own guns?"  
>Everyone but Alex unsheathed a firearm.<br>"Good."  
>"I want one too," said Alex. "Alexandra has a pistol and her claws. That's all I left her with. I need a gun."<p>

Alexandra's muscles were screaming. The gun was empty and one of her claws had broken off. She was about to faint. Tom already had. She'd been hit by bullets multiple times. Tyler and another ski instructor had tried to help her, but by now Tyler's shoulder was dislocated and the other was dead. Alexandra was fighting a double battle. One with Scorpia, one with the sense of betrayal.  
><em>Where was Alex?<em>  
>Then half the roof caved in, luckily towards the front of the building, crushing many of the Scorpia agents. Through the gaping hole she saw a chopper and her heart lifted. Yassen's face could be clearly seen through the windscreen. Ben was in the co-pilot's seat. And Alex was hanging out the door, sub-machine gun in his hand and a look of fury on his face. He was mowing down Scorpia agents before he'd touched the floor.<br>Alexandra passed out with a smile.

**Have you noticed that my action scenes aren't very long? I mean, in It began with Christmas, the chapter where they kill Grief is like, 300 words max. anyhoo, tell me if you liked it, or you hated it. In a REVIEW, obviously! **


	8. Chapter 8

Alex dropped silently to the floor of the ski lodge, the machine gun spraying bullets at Scorpia operatives. Tom and Alexandra were both out cold on the floor. He wasn't surprised. Alexandra had been holding off the entire task force of Scorpia for four straight hours. The empty pistol was in Tom's limp hand. Yassen and Ben maneuvered the helicopter onto the unbroken part of the roof and they and K unit jumped after him, into the mess of Scorpia agents. Taking a glimpse out the window, Alex caught sight of the rest of the MI6 agents fighting the Scorpia forces on the mountain. The enemy were dispersing, the Scorpia operatives withdrawing. Alex picked up his sister and handed her to Yassen. Ben heaved Tom over his shoulder. The two men passed the teens back up into the helicopter. Alex dragged open the door leading into the back room. An entire class of scared faces stared back at them. Mr. Grey was first to respond. "Alex! Wha –"  
>"No time. Helicopter, now." He guided the teenagers, teachers and lodge staff through the bloodied mess of the front living room and through the hole in the roof. Alex, Yassen, Ben and K unit got back into the chopper, still firing. Yassen got back behind the controls. "Alex," he said, "Check your sister and your friend. They're probably in shock."<br>"No kidding," said Snake, checking them over. "They were fighting Scorpia agents for four hours straight. Alexandra's shoulder's dislocated and they've both been shot multiple times."

Below, the MI6 agents and the soldiers were withdrawing into the tanks and the helicopters. The last stragglers from Scorpia were still firing. Alex ripped the last explosive free from round his neck and dropped it into the middle of the retreating, black-jumpsuited throng. The shockwave shoved the choppers into motion. He turned around.  
>The class and teachers from Brookland, Tyler and the other lodge staff were still shivering in terror. Most of the girls and some of the boys were hyperventilating. Eagle dragged a bag from underneath a seat and opened it. It was filled with coffee bags.<br>"Trust Eagle to bring the coffee," laughed Wolf weakly. "Caffeinated, I presume?"  
>"Naturally," grinned Eagle. He pulled out a miniature stove and started heating up mugs.<p>

Alexandra woke to a pounding headache, a throbbing shoulder and the scent of coffee. Her head was rested at an awkward angle on Alex's shoulder. "Alex...?"  
>"Here, sis." He quickly sat her straight and passed her a hot cup. She noted her class sitting staring at her.<br>"Did you tell them?" he asked.  
>"With Scorpia shooting at me? Course not."<br>"Tell _what?_" asked Hog exasperatedly.  
>"Well, you know when my uncle died…" Alex launched into the story of how he was recruited into MI6. When he got to the part about Julius Grief, Alexandra chipped in with how he had created her and bonded both her and Alex with a cheetah's DNA. By the end of it, their audience's mouths were hanging open.<br>"That can't be legal," said Mr. Grey. "Recruiting a minor… they blackmailed you?"  
>"Yep. Oh, that reminds me, when we get back, you'll have to sign the Official Secrets Act and don't tell anyone about this or you'll be arrested if you're lucky."<br>"And if we're not?"  
>"Scorpia'd capture you," said Alexandra matter-of-factly. "Or any other criminal organization that wanted information on Alex. We do have a lot of enemies."<br>"We'll be heading back to Seattle and whatever they can salvage of your stuff will be sent on," said Ben from the front. "Then you'll catch the next flight back to London."  
>Alex and Alexandra visibly paled.<br>"What's wrong?" asked Yassen, frowning at them in the rearview mirror of the chopper.  
>"We just remembered," muttered Alex. "When we get back, we'll have Jack to face."<p>

**Chapter 8 done! Sorry bout the wait. Life's been a bitch right about now. I'm doing this at 9 o clock right now and my parents are yelling at me to go to bed. I didn't update earlier cuz I just got back from combined piano lesson and shopping and I had to have dinner and a shower afterwards. Plus I got back from school round four so all in all, I've had about ten minutes in between to update. Enough of my excuses. REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

They dropped the lodge staff off at a hospital. Yassen didn't try to cross the Atlantic in a helicopter; he touched down round back of the Seattle airport. The plane they had been planning to take was waiting. Alex remembered that it was meant to be the last day of the trip. School trips seemed so far away now. As they boarded, Alex and Alexandra made sure to get seats near K unit, Ben and Yassen. Backup in case of emergencies.

When they landed at Heathrow, MI6 vehicles were clustered in the carpark. Students were loaded on and they were driven back to Brookland. Nervous parents were waiting: everyone had seen the besieged ski mountain on the news. All the parents knew were that their children were at a ski lodge, but when they called, there was no signal. Jack was among them. When she saw the twins, she pulled them both into a tight hug. Alexandra winced as pressure was placed on her bullet wounds. "Alex Rider," said Jack, her voice muffled by Alexandra's t-shirt. "You promised you wouldn't get into trouble."  
>"Yeah… about that…"<br>"You are NEVER going on another school trip again. NEVER."  
>"We won't, Jack."<br>"Never, never ne – oh hello, sweetie!"  
>She'd spotted Snake.<br>The twins quietly backed out of the scene.  
>"Hold it right there, you two!"<br>They turned back round.  
>"When we get home, I'm gonna continue ranting til your ears burst, clear?"<br>"Crystal," muttered Alex and Alexandra at the same time.

Back at the Chelsea mansion, Jack ranted and raved. "You could have been KILLED! What would I do if that happened? It's bad enough sitting around while you're on missions, hoping you don't go MIA! I can't take it anymore, kids," she was suddenly on the verge of tears. "You promised you'd be safe."  
>"It won't happen again, Jack," soothed Alexandra. "It wasn't our fault this time."<br>"We stayed where we were meant to. Scorpia attacked first," said Alex. "We won't get into any more trouble, Jack, we promise."  
>"You promise, Alex, but trouble finds you anyway," moaned Jack. "Don't go on any more school trips."<br>"OK, Jack. We promise." Alexandra put on an innocent look.

K unit, Ben and Yassen kept visiting for the next several weeks in order for Snake to check on Tom and Alexandra's bullet wounds. Alex quickly found out that their unanimously voted favorite movie was The Exorcist. They watched it every night, which Jack disapproved of. They became such regular visitors that one night, in the middle of their nightly movie, Alex asked Yassen, "You stay in MI6's mansion, m'I right?"  
>"Mm-hmm."<br>"Since you're here more often than you're there, you could move in."  
>Yassen stopped watching to stare at him wide eyed. "Are you serious?"<br>"Deadly. I'm the only boy in a house full of girls. It'd make life easier for both of us. I've already cleared it with Jack." Alexandra was nodding enthusiastically at the idea.  
>"I'm not sure Snake would approve of me living with his girlfriend…"<br>"He's right in front of you, ask him."  
>Snake, having heard the entire conversation, turned around to eyeball Yassen.<br>"You don't touch Jack, you hear?"  
>"Wouldn't dream of it."<br>"Just don't touch her, and I don't mind if you move in or not."  
>Yassen and the twins had wide smiles on their faces for the rest of the night.<p>

The next morning, Yassen returned with his things – one case, he packed light – and the twins let him pick one of the many empty guest rooms. One more surprise: he came on a motorcycle. Alex was squealing with excitement when he saw it. "Is it yours?"  
>"No, it's MI6's. Of course it's mine, you idiot!"<br>They were happy that day.

Meanwhile, on Liverpool Street, Alan Blunt was examining a report. "Do you have any idea how Scorpia knew Alex was in Seattle?" asked Mrs. Jones.  
>"They might have bugged his house… the question is, why did they send their entire task force?"<br>"They knew that he was genetically modified. That he'd been bonded with cheetah DNA. And now that he was cloned, there are two cheetah versions of Alex Rider."  
>"They overestimated them."<br>"Exactly."  
>"They didn't overestimate them. Alexandra Rider singlehandedly held off Scorpia for four consecutive hours."<br>"And they want revenge for all the times he's humiliated them. He's all but slapped them in the face three times," said Tulip.  
>"We'll have to be careful."<p>

**Chapter 9 up! This'll only be a short A/N, I've got to go read a copy of The Thin Executioner that I borrowed from my school library. Anyway, is the notion of Yassen moving in realistic? I'm going to do a scene of them at school next chapter. Review and tell me what you want the school's reaction to be. There'll be a LOT of staring, that's for sure.**


	10. Chapter 10

**i added a new bit on the end cuz i decided to end the story here. there'll be another sequel and then i'll wrap up the trilogy. yes, i did get my computer fixed. ignore the A/N at the bottom.** :)

**Silver**

"We don't want to go to school, Jack!"  
>"You have to, Alexandra. It'll be hard but you've got to face up to it anyway!<br>"Actually, we don't," Alex said, his voice muffled.  
>"Alex, what are you doing?" she opened the door. Alex was nowhere in sight.<br>"Alex, you'll be late for school!"  
>Alex didn't answer.<br>"Alex...?" she looked up and there he was, clinging to the ceiling lamp.  
>Yassen entered, thus most probably saving Alex's life. Jack looked about to blow.<br>"Alex, think of it this way. They won't be jerks to you anymore. You and Alexandra could be popular kids…"  
>Twenty minutes later, Alex and Alexandra arrived at school, both muttering about bloody assassins and reverse psychology.<p>

Everyone who had been on the trip was staring when they entered their classroom. Except Tom, that is. He knew the full story. Both twins were glad to see their friend. He had several bandages over his arms and Alex could see the outline of another crossing beneath his shirt. "Sit down, Alex and Alexandra," said Mr. Grey. He started handing out worksheets and Alex was eternally grateful that he was acting normally. "Today we'll be reflecting on the ski trip and you'll each write an essay on one of three topics: Ski instructors, lodge managers or skiing/snowboarding techniques." He continued to outline their work on the whiteboard and for the next hour nothing could be heard but the scratching of pencils.

For the rest of the day, other than the constant staring, the twins were undisturbed. They sat at their table with Tom at break and chatted about normal things. It was only when the buses and Yassen's motorbike arrived that Hog stopped them. "What is it now, Claude?" asked Alex wearily.  
>"I just wanted to say… what you did in Seattle… you guys are OK," said Hog, fiddling with a bit of loose gravel on the quad. "I won't bother you again and I'll tell my friends not to."<br>Alexandra patted his shoulder. "It's OK. We could have handled worse."  
>The twins made their way to the motorbike.<p>

The bike was slightly bigger than normal: it had three seats and would fit either three thin people or one and a half fat people. Luckily, the twins and Yassen were all thin people. "I had it specially modified to fit all of us," said Yassen from behind the helmet. "Hop on."

Scorpia never forgives.  
>Scorpia never forgets.<br>Alex Rider had made a laughingstock out of them too many times. His sister – their own work – was aiding him. Employing Julius Grief had been a mistake. That much was certain. Scorpia needed a new plan of action, but how were they to carry it out? Much of their task force lay dead on an American ski mountain. Even more people had been alerted to the existence of Scorpia.  
>But Zeljan Kurst was not worried. He had a plan. They had tried intrigue, madmen and brute force. None of them had worked.<br>But this one would rid them of the Rider twins once and for all.

**I'm doing this really quickly cuz my computers running out of power and there's something wrong with the charger. I just got the 10% warning. Just to tell u, I might not be able to update for next few days. Review and leave me a lovely surprise when I get back!**


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